A/N: SORRY BUT I RAN OUT OF IDEAS FOR A FEW DAYS AND SINCE THERE'S NO SCHOOL TODAY I DECIDED TO UPDATE. I HAD TO GET THEM TO FACE EACH OTHER. WELL MAX AND TESS DON'T ACTUALLY SEE EACH OTHER IN THIS CHAPTER BUT IT'S A START. I PROMISE THEY WILL IN THE NEXT. I KNOW I SUCK. I KEEP DRAGGING THE THING BUT IT WILL GET BETTER. MORE REVIEWS PLEASE. ENJOY.

DISCLAIMER: NOTHING STILL BELONGS TO ME.

~*~

Michael's senses kicked in as he heard the screeching of the tires and engines revving behind them. He looked back instantly and saw that there were two motorcycles and a car speeding towards them.

"Shit!" He hissed. By then, the commotion had caught everyone's attention and he was looking over at Kyle at the other car, who seemed to be telling his dad to pull over.

"Don't pull over!" Isabel yelled from the back seat but her protests were useless since two figures on motorcycles stopped right in front of them, blocking the other side with the car.

"What's going on?" Alex asked. No one answered him but from the looks on Max and Michael's face, this was definitely not good. He looked over at Kyle in the other car who was now scowling with his arms crossed in front of him.

Max leapt out of the car, followed by Michael to face the two strangers. They were wearing helmets covering their faces.

"What you do want?" Max demanded.

The two figures refused to answer but the taller one pulled a gun and aimed it a Michael's forehead. "You. Follow me." He ordered gruffly, shoving Michael in front of them rather roughly.

Michael growled tempted to use his lethal powers, annoyed that he was being pushed around.

"Don't do anything funny, Rath." The other figure who sounded very much like a woman, said when they were out of earshot from Max.

Michael looked at the two of them imploringly. Rath? She had just called him Rath.

How was that possible?

"What are you?" Michael demanded. There was something uncanny about the two of them. Something very suspicious.

Both of them pulled their helmets off revealing a man and woman a few years older than he was.

"What else? Hybrids of course." The woman replied in a clipped tone.

Michael's heart leapt. This was all wrong. What the hell was going on? Were they Khivar's assassins?

"You're the enemy." Michael growled, getting ready for an attack.  If this was the end, then he was either going to win or go down with a fight.

The man looked at him stonily, not budging an inch. "On the contrary." He said his voice stern.

"What do you want?" Michael insisted. He didn't like being kept hostage and he was starting to worry about the rest of his friends.

"Your safety. Stay away from Alamogordo. Go to Carlsbad and then Texas. Go far from Roswell." The man ordered.

"You tell that to Max." Michael scoffed, looking over at his friend who was watching them from far away, suspicion written all over his face

The woman looked back at Max. "Zan is a liability right now. He does not understand. You do. Keep your promise Rath. Keep Zan and Vilandra safe." She said.

"Who are you?" Michael demanded but before either of them could answer, Isabel's voice pierced through the eerie night, yelling for him and Max.

They were under attack.

Michael ran towards his friends, the man and woman right beside him.

"Form a perimeter around them!" The man ordered and two other men dressed in black stormed out of the car that was barricading them, forming a circle around the group.

The group started firing, using their weapons, their powers, revealing their cover.

In an instant, everything was turned into chaos and no one could tell who the enemies were.

"What the hell is going on?" Max yelled at Michael as he raised his hand to shield them.

Kyle, Jim, Liz, Alex and Maria were standing in the circle protected by their alien friends.

Michael ignored him, concentrating on keeping them alive. But in the end, despite the number of people on their side, their efforts were still useless. They were out numbered two three to one and they couldn't protect themselves without getting one of their friends hurt.

The man and woman who previously spoke to Michael were on the ground, bloodied, mangled and dead.

They were all taken captive and were shoved into the back of a van, their hands tied on their back by a strange metal.

"Michael, what the hell is going on? Who were those people?" Max demanded. He could see that Michael was lying or at least hiding something.

That man and woman were protecting them. Or at least tried to.

"I don't know." Michael answered lowly.

But he had an idea. Tess must have sent them to protect Max, himself and Isabel. It was possible that she did that.

"What did they say?"

Nothing. Michael refused to speak.

He looked away from Max, not wanting to tell him anything. He had to think. Maybe this was a good time to tell Max the truth. He should know. But what about the promise? What if they got out of this and there was no need to know about Tess' return?

"You're lying!" Max accused furiously. "Don't think I'm stupid! You and Kyle, you've been lying! I can read you two like a book!" He yelled angrily.

Michael said nothing. He felt so damn guilty that he might as well have blurted out the whole truth but he didn't.

He just looked over at Kyle who was staring at the floor of the van, refusing to make eye contact.

"Kyle." Jim Valenti said, nudging his son.

"We should figure out how to get out of here." He said, refusing to join in the tense conversation. "Then later, we can all sit around and blame each other, okay."

"Max is right. You're lying." Isabel said angrily. "You two have been acting strange form the beginning. Nothing adds up." She accused.

"We're not lying." Kyle protested; adamant of keeping their cover.

Michael opened his mouth to say something to Max but the van came to a halt and the doors swung open and they were all were dragged out and blindfolded.

In the background, Max could hear the faint of voice of someone very, very familiar.

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Khivar smiled as the van pulled over and his men dragged eight people out of the van.

"The plan is working just great." He grinned to himself as he stepped outside and motioned to take them into the warehouse.

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Max struggled for a minute, trying to break free from his captor's hold but the man or whatever he was, was strong.

They were shoved into a room, Max, Michael and Isabel in one and the rest of them in another.

"Max?" Isabel's frightened voice rang out.

"It's okay, Izz." Max said; trying to stay strong for his sister.

"Where are we?" She asked, her voice small and frightened. She couldn't stand up because her hands were tied and she would lose he balance and she was blindfolded. "The floor is cold." She added.

"I don't know." Max answered. He really had no idea and it was scaring him. Having no control over what was happening frightened him.

He felt paranoid, afraid, betrayed, angry, scared.

Michael stayed where he was, listening to them, refusing to say anything.

"I'm betting you know about this." Max's accused him angrily.

"It's my fault. I should have told-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the door creaked open and Max was pulled off the ground and all Michael and Isabel could hear were the sounds of struggling and Max being beaten to death.

Half an hour later, Isabel was crying by then, her body shaking from her hysterical sobs despite her shame from being so fragile.

Michael felt the urge to stand up and fight for Max, to help his best friend and king but he couldn't. Another person had come in a few minutes later and started working on him.

His tied hands were put above him and he was hanging from a hook, his feet barely touching the ground, making his arms hurt.

The brutal punches came, followed by the hard baseball bat that was smashed against his back, making him whimper from the searing pain that had engulfed half his body.

The blows that were given to him started to become deafening, mixed in with the ones that Max was receiving. Somewhere, he could hear Isabel, crying, struggling, and asking for their help.

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you." He heard Max threaten the unseen man weakly.

The man said nothing, just snickered and hauled Isabel out of the room.

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She was forced to sit on a chair, her hands still tied together. She could hear footsteps, muffled voices and opening and closing of doors.

Her blindfold was harshly removed, making her strain to see from the blinding light. She blinked for a few minutes, her eyes adjusting.

A man stood in front of her, his face sinister; a scowl pasted on his lips.

"My Vilandra." He said, grinning like a maniac.

Isabel winced, moving her face away from his hand when he reached to caress her cheek.

"Khivar." She said hoarsely, cringing from the coldness of his skin that gave her memories of the torrid past that they shared. "You bastard." She hissed coldly.

"Missed me, my dear?" He asked in a sing song voice, as he circled around her and removed the handcuffs that restrained her. She leapt from her seat and away from him, her eyes shining from the hate and fear that ran within her.

She hated him. He was the man that destroyed her family, destroyed her, caused her to betray that people that she loved most.

Khivar walked towards her but was interrupted by the door suddenly bursting open.

"Khivar, what is going on-" Tess' voice trailed off when she saw Isabel, standing there, with her back pressed against the wall, looking frightened and trapped.

Isabel's eyes' narrowed. "You!" She hissed. "You? You're alive! You're part of this? You bitch!" Isabel darted towards her, ready to attack Tess but Khivar caught her wrist, and held on to it tightly.

"Don't touch my wife." He warned dangerously, possessiveness glinting in his eyes.

Isabel's eyes widened from the shock. She looked from Khivar to Tess who seemed frightened and guilty.

"Max was right all along. You did betray us." She declared angrily, her voice filled with the new hate that she just found for Tess.

How could she?

How could she side with the enemy? How could she betray Max who loved her?
She was supposed to be loyal, to be honest to them forever.

She lied to them. Again! She tricked them, made them feel sorry for her. Isabel's blood boiled at the thought of it.

The image of Tess sacrificing herself for their safety was forever tainted and never in her life did Isabel feel more hurt and cheated.

When this is over, she swore to herself that she was going to kill Tess.

Tess watched her cautiously. Isabel was angry and hurt and very, very misled. She backed away, giving Khivar a warning look telling him to back off and not hurt her or else.

She wanted to explain to Isabel, make it clear to her but she couldn't. Not with Khivar in front of them. If he knew, then they were all dead. She might as well have killed them herself and not sacrificed her life and her son's for their safety.

No. This was going to work. She had to make it or everything she had done would all be in vain and Antar or the Royal Four would be just a faint memory in their already tarnished history.

Tess smiled, hoping that it would pass. "Good to see you, Vilandra." Her voice was cold, not revealing her innermost fears and regret. If only Isabel knew what she was thinking. Knew of how guilty and afraid she was. But she didn't and it was going to stay that way. She turned her lovely face to Khivar, her smile growing wider, her eyes twinkling, hiding the deception behind them. She leaned close to him. "You take good care of my ex-sister-in-law." She whispered coolly before she left the room, the sound of her pounding heart so deafening that she thought she was going to pass out.

Khivar grinned, pleased with what was occurring with the two women. It was so obvious that Isabel or Vilandra hated his new queen. And that hate was reflected back. If he wanted to watch Isabel tear Tess apart, he could, but his plan was bigger and he needed to keep them alive.

For now.